Minister suggests inclusion of the disable in national policies

Koforidua, Dec 30, GNA - Mr Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo, the Eastern Regional Minister, has said there was the need for the Domestic Violence Act to include facilities that would capture challenges of Persons living With Disabilities (PWD) to enable them to access justice when abused. This, he said, would ensure that PWD's were not left out in the national framework for action in eliminating domestic violence from the society.

Mr Ofosu-Ampofo suggested that the action plan should make submissions for provision of interpreters for the deaf and dumb at all the state institutions that have a stake in domestic violence issues. He also suggested interpreters at police stations and health facilities where those interpreters would help articulate the concerns of the deaf who are abused to enable them receive justice.

Opening a two-day Domestic Violence Training Workshop for journalists from the Eastern and Volta regions in Koforidua, he said the current framework of domestic violence act did not favour disabled persons and that must be given a critical consideration. He said challenges of the disabled had been neglected for far too long and it was prudent that at least the framework for domestic violence action captured the plight of the disabled. To buttress his point, he narrated how a deaf and dumb person told him at a Christmas party he organized for the deaf at Bunso that he the deaf went to make a complaint at a police station for abuse. Because the police could not understood him, the perpetrator who could speak rather told the police that he the dumb had abused him and was put behind bars whiles the perpetrator was set free.

The workshop was organized by the Ministry of Women and Children's Affairs (MOWAC) with funding from the Netherlands Embassy to educate the media on the Domestic Violence Act, National Policy and Plan of Action (NPPA) and the ethics of journalism in handling such issues in their reportage.

Mrs Juliana Azumah Mensah, the Minister for Women and Children's Affairs, said the workshop was to educate the media on the need and legalities concerning the domestic violence act for accurate and sensitive reportage.

She said the way some cases of domestic violence acts were reported left much to be desired and underpinned the gravity of such cases sending wrong signals to the listening and reading public. The minister reiterated the government's commitment in stamping out domestic violence by strengthening institutions such as the police and the media for effective collaboration in that direction. Mrs Hillary Gbedemah, a legal consultant, said roots of violence had been entrenched in power and patriarchy. She said male children from childhood were made to believe that boys an= d for that matter men must be hard and refuse to be emotional.